Latest news with #Maroons'
Sydney Morning Herald
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
How Billy picked the Origin winning side: The Billy Slater Podcast EP 19
Queensland coach Billy Slater takes you inside the Maroons' historic State of Origin series victory! Hear his candid reflections on the Game 3 decider, the courageous leadership of Cameron Munster, and the calculated decisions made throughout the series. Plus, Billy breaks down all the key NRL Round 19 action, celebrates the Billy M Medal winner for the week, answers your listener questions, and delivers his Ampol Power Rankings. The Billy Slater Podcast with Billy and Peter Psaltis thanks to TAB - For the best time in sport, TAB has the best app in sport. TAB, We're On. Send through your questions to Billy billyslaterpodcast@
The Age
14-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
How Billy picked the Origin winning side: The Billy Slater Podcast EP 19
Queensland coach Billy Slater takes you inside the Maroons' historic State of Origin series victory! Hear his candid reflections on the Game 3 decider, the courageous leadership of Cameron Munster, and the calculated decisions made throughout the series. Plus, Billy breaks down all the key NRL Round 19 action, celebrates the Billy M Medal winner for the week, answers your listener questions, and delivers his Ampol Power Rankings. The Billy Slater Podcast with Billy and Peter Psaltis thanks to TAB - For the best time in sport, TAB has the best app in sport. TAB, We're On. Send through your questions to Billy billyslaterpodcast@
7NEWS
09-07-2025
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Cameron Munster ‘forever grateful' for selfless Billy Slater act before State of Origin decider
An emotional Cameron Munster has revealed how he looked to the sky and asked his late father for energy, before leading Queensland to a State of Origin series win. Four days after the sudden death of his father Stephen, Munster played an inspirational role in the Maroons' series-deciding 24-12 win in Sydney. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Queensland reclaim Origin shield after winning game three. The new Queensland captain said he never considered sitting out the game, believing his father would have told him to return to camp and play the decider. Munster could be seen looking to the skies as he ran out onto Accor Stadium on Wednesday night, before tearfully hugging coach Billy Slater at fulltime. 'I just asked (dad) to use as much energy as he can. He hasn't got a whole heap of energy. He was a big boy, so I needed 10 per cent of him,' Munster said afterwards. 'I love him, and I'll obviously grieve and deal with what I have to deal with tomorrow and onwards. 'But I want to soak it up tonight, my family with the team.' Munster said it had been an 'easy decision' for him to play on Wednesday night, after leaving the Maroons camp on Sunday to fly home to Rockhampton. The No.6 had not initially planned to fly home to be with his family, before Slater convinced him to do so after having also lost his father this year. 'I'm forever grateful for that,' Munster said. 'I wasn't probably more leaning towards not doing it because I didn't want to let Bill and all of Queensland down. But Bill told me I needed to go home. 'I knew straight away when I heard ... dad would be stupid enough to tell me that there was more at stake (and to play). 'It was a decider, I was in camp the whole week. I knew the preparation. 'And it would have been a really tough job for Bill and the coaching staff, to put someone in and understand how the way we wanted to play. 'It was an easy ... Queensland is everything to me.' Slater lauded Munster's effort after the Maroons' 24-12 win, with Queensland close to faultless at Accor Stadium. The Maroons' series win came despite a game-one loss at home, resulting in the axing of Daly Cherry-Evans and Munster replacing him as captain. 'That's as courageous and brave as I've ever seen,' Slater said of Munster's effort. 'I lost my dad in January. I know what it's like. I know how it feels. Our dads are our heroes. I don't know how he did it. 'But within 10 minutes of sitting with him in his room on Sunday morning, he looked at me and he said, 'Bill, I'm playing'. 'And I know he wanted to. I know his dad would have wanted him to. And, boy, that's one proud dad sitting up there watching his boy tonight.'
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cooper Cronk's genius laid bare after Origin call about Latrell and NSW proven right
Queensland legend Cooper Cronk has shown why he is considered one of the great minds of rugby league having predicted the Maroons' key to victory in the State of Origin decider will be to shut down Latrell Mitchell and Stephen Crichton. Up until the decider in Sydney on Wednesday, the NSW edge of Crichton, Mitchell Zac Lomax and Brian To'o had benefited from early ball throughout the series. NSW had scored more tries than Queensland in both games, but were let down by their goal-kicking in Perth having lost 26-24. While Mitchell hasn't scored a try in Brisbane and Perth, his presence has been a distraction for the Queensland side down the left. Crichton is considered by many as the best centre in the game and crossed over for a try in Perth. And fans were expecting Nathan Cleary to hand early ball to his destructive backline on a dry track in Sydney. Although Lomax, Crichton and Mitchell were completely nullified in the decider in Sydney with Slater instructing his men to follow Cronk's game plan to aplomb. Ahead of the game, Cronk suggested Queensland needed to up their tempo if they were going to nullify the Blues' destructive edge. Robert Toia and debutant Gehmat Shibasaki would need to have their best defensive games to answer this call. "In Game 2, when they were coming, every time they touched the ball it looked like something was happening," he said on Fox Sports ahead of the game. "So I think for Queensland to win this, they need to defend like their life depends on it, but those two centres cannot get early effective ball. Their first tackle on their centres needs to be the best tackle ever. "If Latrell or Stephen fend off their centre, it's going to give them a lot of confidence. It's going to give Nathan and Jarome more reason to go there, so they need to stop them." And that is exactly what Toia and and debutant Shibasaki achieved. Both centres jammed in on defence with Xavier Coates and Valentine Holmes also piling the pressure on the Blues backline. Cleary and Jarome Luai were unable to give any early ball to their attacking weapons for nearly 60 minutes of the game in a drastic change from the final 40 minutes of Game 2. While To'o managed to cross over in the final minute of the clash, Lomax, Crichton and Mitchell were completely nullified in the decider in Sydney with Slater getting his men to follow Cronk's game plan to aplomb. RELATED: Massive news about Jett Cleary after splitting with Nathan and Ivan NSW ditch pre-match tradition in stunning move for State of Origin 3 Slater was in tears after the game with captain Cameron Munster after a tough week leading up to the game. The coach himself made plenty of tough calls throughout the series, which included dropping former captain Daly Cherry-Evans after Game 1. He also blooded Toia and Gehmat Shibasaki in the series. And the coach admitted this was one of the sweetest victories in his short, but successful, coaching career in Origin. "They're right up there," Slater said of Queensland's 2-1 series victory. "It is a true Queensland team. It's been a true Queensland performance. That's no disrespect to anyone else, but you look over the history of this footy team. "I'm so proud of this group. I've been proud of this group a number of times over the last four years, and I don't know if I've been any more proud than tonight. There's been a lot of hurdles to overcome. It's an incredible feeling and I'm sure five and a half million people are feeling the same thing."
The Advertiser
09-07-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
'Easy decision' for emotional Munster to play Origin
An emotional Cameron Munster has revealed how he looked to the sky and asked his late father for energy, before leading Queensland to a State of Origin series win. Four days after the sudden death of his father Stephen, Munster played an inspirational role in the Maroons' series-deciding 24-12 win in Sydney. The new Queensland captain said he never considered sitting out the game, believing his father would have told him to return to camp and play the decider. Munster could be seen looking to the skies as he ran out onto Accor Stadium on Wednesday night, before tearfully hugging coach Billy Slater at fulltime. "I just asked (dad) to use as much energy as he can. He hasn't got a whole heap of energy. He was a big boy, so I needed 10 per cent of him," Munster said afterwards. "I love him, and I'll obviously grieve and deal with what I have to deal with tomorrow and onwards. "But I want to soak it up tonight, my family with the team." Munster said it had been an "easy decision" for him to play on Wednesday night, after leaving the Maroons camp on Sunday to fly home to Rockhampton. The No.6 had not initially planned to fly home to be with his family, before Slater convinced him to do so after having also lost his father this year. "I'm forever grateful for that," Munster said. "I wasn't probably more leaning towards not doing it because I didn't want to let Bill and all of Queensland down. But Bill told me I needed to go home. "I knew straight away when I heard ... dad would be stupid enough to tell me that there was more at stake (and to play). "It was a decider, I was in camp the whole week. I knew the preparation. "And it would have been a really tough job for Bill and the coaching staff, to put someone in and understand how the way we wanted to play. "It was an easy ... Queensland is everything to me." Slater lauded Munster's effort after the Maroons' 24-12 win, with Queensland close to faultless at Accor Stadium. The Maroons' series win came despite a game-one loss at home, resulting in the axing of Daly Cherry-Evans and Munster replacing him as captain. "That's as courageous and brave as I've ever seen," Slater said of Munster's effort. "I lost my dad in January. I know what it's like. I know how it feels. Our dads are our heroes. I don't know how he did it. "But within 10 minutes of sitting with him in his room on Sunday morning, he looked at me and he said, 'Bill, I'm playing'. "And I know he wanted to. I know his dad would have wanted him to. And, boy, that's one proud dad sitting up there watching his boy tonight." An emotional Cameron Munster has revealed how he looked to the sky and asked his late father for energy, before leading Queensland to a State of Origin series win. Four days after the sudden death of his father Stephen, Munster played an inspirational role in the Maroons' series-deciding 24-12 win in Sydney. The new Queensland captain said he never considered sitting out the game, believing his father would have told him to return to camp and play the decider. Munster could be seen looking to the skies as he ran out onto Accor Stadium on Wednesday night, before tearfully hugging coach Billy Slater at fulltime. "I just asked (dad) to use as much energy as he can. He hasn't got a whole heap of energy. He was a big boy, so I needed 10 per cent of him," Munster said afterwards. "I love him, and I'll obviously grieve and deal with what I have to deal with tomorrow and onwards. "But I want to soak it up tonight, my family with the team." Munster said it had been an "easy decision" for him to play on Wednesday night, after leaving the Maroons camp on Sunday to fly home to Rockhampton. The No.6 had not initially planned to fly home to be with his family, before Slater convinced him to do so after having also lost his father this year. "I'm forever grateful for that," Munster said. "I wasn't probably more leaning towards not doing it because I didn't want to let Bill and all of Queensland down. But Bill told me I needed to go home. "I knew straight away when I heard ... dad would be stupid enough to tell me that there was more at stake (and to play). "It was a decider, I was in camp the whole week. I knew the preparation. "And it would have been a really tough job for Bill and the coaching staff, to put someone in and understand how the way we wanted to play. "It was an easy ... Queensland is everything to me." Slater lauded Munster's effort after the Maroons' 24-12 win, with Queensland close to faultless at Accor Stadium. The Maroons' series win came despite a game-one loss at home, resulting in the axing of Daly Cherry-Evans and Munster replacing him as captain. "That's as courageous and brave as I've ever seen," Slater said of Munster's effort. "I lost my dad in January. I know what it's like. I know how it feels. Our dads are our heroes. I don't know how he did it. "But within 10 minutes of sitting with him in his room on Sunday morning, he looked at me and he said, 'Bill, I'm playing'. "And I know he wanted to. I know his dad would have wanted him to. And, boy, that's one proud dad sitting up there watching his boy tonight." An emotional Cameron Munster has revealed how he looked to the sky and asked his late father for energy, before leading Queensland to a State of Origin series win. Four days after the sudden death of his father Stephen, Munster played an inspirational role in the Maroons' series-deciding 24-12 win in Sydney. The new Queensland captain said he never considered sitting out the game, believing his father would have told him to return to camp and play the decider. Munster could be seen looking to the skies as he ran out onto Accor Stadium on Wednesday night, before tearfully hugging coach Billy Slater at fulltime. "I just asked (dad) to use as much energy as he can. He hasn't got a whole heap of energy. He was a big boy, so I needed 10 per cent of him," Munster said afterwards. "I love him, and I'll obviously grieve and deal with what I have to deal with tomorrow and onwards. "But I want to soak it up tonight, my family with the team." Munster said it had been an "easy decision" for him to play on Wednesday night, after leaving the Maroons camp on Sunday to fly home to Rockhampton. The No.6 had not initially planned to fly home to be with his family, before Slater convinced him to do so after having also lost his father this year. "I'm forever grateful for that," Munster said. "I wasn't probably more leaning towards not doing it because I didn't want to let Bill and all of Queensland down. But Bill told me I needed to go home. "I knew straight away when I heard ... dad would be stupid enough to tell me that there was more at stake (and to play). "It was a decider, I was in camp the whole week. I knew the preparation. "And it would have been a really tough job for Bill and the coaching staff, to put someone in and understand how the way we wanted to play. "It was an easy ... Queensland is everything to me." Slater lauded Munster's effort after the Maroons' 24-12 win, with Queensland close to faultless at Accor Stadium. The Maroons' series win came despite a game-one loss at home, resulting in the axing of Daly Cherry-Evans and Munster replacing him as captain. "That's as courageous and brave as I've ever seen," Slater said of Munster's effort. "I lost my dad in January. I know what it's like. I know how it feels. Our dads are our heroes. I don't know how he did it. "But within 10 minutes of sitting with him in his room on Sunday morning, he looked at me and he said, 'Bill, I'm playing'. "And I know he wanted to. I know his dad would have wanted him to. And, boy, that's one proud dad sitting up there watching his boy tonight."
